Noodle-obsessed diners will travel near and far to sniff out claims of the region’s best bowls. One such place on the receiving end of numerous laudatory remarks is Issho Ni (34302 Euclid Ave., 440-306-8020) in Willoughby. The restaurant took the place of Shogun Japanese Steak House, which closed a few years back.
While the hibachi tables still get fired up in an adjacent room, the main attraction for noodle soup fans is the roster of deeply flavorful ramen bowls. After trying two separate bowls, I can say without reservation that this cherry little spot on the far-east side of town is serving up some of the best ramen in Northeast Ohio.
Credit: Douglas Trattner
Choices include a classic pork tonkotsu ($13.51) prepared with various levels of spiciness, kuro ramen ($14.55) made black from the addition of squid ink and fermented garlic, Hokkaido-style yellow ramen ($12.47), soy-based shoyu ramen ($11.43) and the broth-less mazeman ramen ($14.55).
The tonkotsu arrives characteristically milky, with a rich, savory broth made from long-simmering pork bones. A base of springy noodles is garnished with two thick wheels of chashu, tender braised pork belly that is ringed with fat and seared before going into the bowl. Garnishes include a runny soft-cooked egg, fermented bamboo shoots, mushrooms and scallions. A “level 2” spiciness brings some real heat to the party. While lighter and clearer in color, the soy-based shoyu ramen broth is no less satisfying. The bowl includes the same add-ons as the tonkotsu.
Issho Ni also prepares excellent sushi in the form of sashimi, nigiri and rolls. The yellowtail starter ($13.51) is an electric pinwheel of delight, with buttery pieces of raw hamachi topped with jalapeno slices and bright ponzu sauce. A massive Bang Bang roll ($14.55) is a double-decker creation with crispy shrimp tempura in the middle and shrimp and crab salad up top.
Issho Ni does not serve alcohol, but it does serve amazing ramen and sushi in an appealing space with warm-hearted service.
Credit: Douglas Trattner
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For 25 years, Douglas Trattner has worked as a full-time freelance writer, editor and author. His work as co-author on Michael Symon's cookbooks have earned him four New York Times Best-Selling Author honors, while his longstanding role as Scene dining editor has garnered awards of its own.
5 replies on “Some of the Best Ramen in Northeast Ohio Can be Found at Issho Ni in Willoughby”
Willoughby sucks. Wonderful, small town, lovable Willoughby SUCKS. Why? How? It didn’t take long. Mayor Boob Fiala has quickly crashed this city into the ground with his grandiose dream of making downtown Willoughby not for the benefit of the residents as it has been since the beginning of time, but rather some sort of destination for the masses from outside the city. He wants an amphitheater. He wants a parking garage. An arts destination. What a joke. Who’s going to pay for it? Oh I know, bums on the bus! As one of his fantasies Boob Fiala wants a TEN MILLION DOLLAR BUS LINE (see the News herald) from Lakeshore Boulevard in Willowick straight to downtown Willoughby to supposedly bring revenue. Great plan, Boob. If you ride the bus do you A). even have revenue and B). if you do, is sales tax on trinkets and used clothes supposed to somehow make our lives better? Why would someone want to live in a community that ignores the residents and aspires to cater to bums that get off the bus, wander around and then leave? Do the math: If the city got every penny of the 7.25% sales tax, you would have to sell $138 MILLION ($137,931,000.00) in keychains and coffee cups just to break even. 138 million (10,000,000/7.25). Let that sink in for a moment. That’s a lot of chotzkes Boob. I’m a lifelong resident. I have contributed a lot to Willoughby only to have my sweat equity given away not to us residents, but to those he aims to attract with a subsidized bum bus in the hope that bus bums have $137 million to spend on used clothes, coffee cups and keychains. It will pay for itself, right? Just like Captains Stadium that bankrupted Eastlake? Wake up Willoughby. Boob is a boob.
Boob Fiala hates you. HATES you. He thinks you don’t have a right to question him. He thinks you’re a threat. Proof? Here’s a quote from a recent News Herald article:
***Bob Fiala, mayor of Willoughby, addressed what he considers to be the biggest threat to the city: social channels. “I think I speak for all the mayor here when I say that we are getting battered daily by the uninformed people, the keyboard warriors, those folks that like to sit at their desk and criticize everything without having all the facts,” Fiala said.***
You see? Boob said it, not me. Our opinion “batters” him. We’re uninformed. We criticize. We’re a threat. Not crime, not crumbling roads, not homelessness, not wandering pit bulls that bite the cops, not rusty unpainted fire hydrants, not hitting an addict with three doses of Narcan at $1,000.00 a dose. You. You’re the threat. You! Boob said so. We’re nothing but “keyboard warriors”. That’s what Boob Fiala thinks of you. You have an opinion so he hates you. You trusted him with your city. But he hates you. I dared to write this so he certainly hates me too. And he “thinks” he speaks for all the mayors. Do they also think he speaks for them? He’s their anointed voice? If so, all the mayors hate you too because Boob Fiala said so.
Next election it’s time for Boob Fiala to get boobted. To the curb. Stop wasting our money Boob and stop squandering the reputation and goodwill of the fine residents that spent over 100 years making Willoughby the great city it was before you stumbled in. If you want this to be Eastlake, move to Eastlake.
Dave, we miss you…..
Me and my partner used to see him shitfaced at All AXS in DTW bragging about how he’s the mayor. One of his shoes came off and he was wearing lifts! My partner kicked his lift under the table and he put his shoe back on and was so drunk he couldn’t figure out why one leg was shorter than the other
Wifey and I been here 45 years and we are leaving this month. Willoughby is the new Wickliffe thanks to mayor bob. it’s hopeless. all he cares about is getting work for his design firm using political connections. Bye bye Willoughby we had a good run but the city will be belly up soon
Can Scene magazine do an article on this imbecile of a mayor in Willoughby? More people need to leave comments on this article. I can’t disagree with anything that was said in the comments about this disaster of a mayor we have here. We are also leaving Willoughby. We have given it so much love and received much in return but the section 8 school invasion, Taj Mahal schools that are unsustainable and run by an alcoholic superintendent with a DUI (there’s arrest video online) that also has grandiose fantasies, constant catering to everyone but the residents (our street has been a total wreck for 3 years) and this new lefty mayor Bob Fiala blowing our money on his nonsense dreams has undermined the wonderful community that took so long to build. Looks like we will be the next San Francisco if we don;t face reality; all we need is a tent city in Pointe Park and a needle exchange. Mayor Anderson did an awesome job and everyone really misses him. We are leaving for Burton and it’s the hardest decision we’ve ever made but there’s not much hope to see Willoughby rebound in the few years we have left
Bob Fiala is a class ‘A’ douche bag. I can’t wait to vote him out and get willoughby back to normal
Willoughby sucks. Wonderful, small town, lovable Willoughby SUCKS. Why? How? It didn’t take long. Mayor Boob Fiala has quickly crashed this city into the ground with his grandiose dream of making downtown Willoughby not for the benefit of the residents as it has been since the beginning of time, but rather some sort of destination for the masses from outside the city. He wants an amphitheater. He wants a parking garage. An arts destination. What a joke. Who’s going to pay for it? Oh I know, bums on the bus! As one of his fantasies Boob Fiala wants a TEN MILLION DOLLAR BUS LINE (see the News herald) from Lakeshore Boulevard in Willowick straight to downtown Willoughby to supposedly bring revenue. Great plan, Boob. If you ride the bus do you A). even have revenue and B). if you do, is sales tax on trinkets and used clothes supposed to somehow make our lives better? Why would someone want to live in a community that ignores the residents and aspires to cater to bums that get off the bus, wander around and then leave? Do the math: If the city got every penny of the 7.25% sales tax, you would have to sell $138 MILLION ($137,931,000.00) in keychains and coffee cups just to break even. 138 million (10,000,000/7.25). Let that sink in for a moment. That’s a lot of chotzkes Boob. I’m a lifelong resident. I have contributed a lot to Willoughby only to have my sweat equity given away not to us residents, but to those he aims to attract with a subsidized bum bus in the hope that bus bums have $137 million to spend on used clothes, coffee cups and keychains. It will pay for itself, right? Just like Captains Stadium that bankrupted Eastlake? Wake up Willoughby. Boob is a boob.
Boob Fiala hates you. HATES you. He thinks you don’t have a right to question him. He thinks you’re a threat. Proof? Here’s a quote from a recent News Herald article:
***Bob Fiala, mayor of Willoughby, addressed what he considers to be the biggest threat to the city: social channels. “I think I speak for all the mayor here when I say that we are getting battered daily by the uninformed people, the keyboard warriors, those folks that like to sit at their desk and criticize everything without having all the facts,” Fiala said.***
You see? Boob said it, not me. Our opinion “batters” him. We’re uninformed. We criticize. We’re a threat. Not crime, not crumbling roads, not homelessness, not wandering pit bulls that bite the cops, not rusty unpainted fire hydrants, not hitting an addict with three doses of Narcan at $1,000.00 a dose. You. You’re the threat. You! Boob said so. We’re nothing but “keyboard warriors”. That’s what Boob Fiala thinks of you. You have an opinion so he hates you. You trusted him with your city. But he hates you. I dared to write this so he certainly hates me too. And he “thinks” he speaks for all the mayors. Do they also think he speaks for them? He’s their anointed voice? If so, all the mayors hate you too because Boob Fiala said so.
Next election it’s time for Boob Fiala to get boobted. To the curb. Stop wasting our money Boob and stop squandering the reputation and goodwill of the fine residents that spent over 100 years making Willoughby the great city it was before you stumbled in. If you want this to be Eastlake, move to Eastlake.
Dave, we miss you…..
Me and my partner used to see him shitfaced at All AXS in DTW bragging about how he’s the mayor. One of his shoes came off and he was wearing lifts! My partner kicked his lift under the table and he put his shoe back on and was so drunk he couldn’t figure out why one leg was shorter than the other
Wifey and I been here 45 years and we are leaving this month. Willoughby is the new Wickliffe thanks to mayor bob. it’s hopeless. all he cares about is getting work for his design firm using political connections. Bye bye Willoughby we had a good run but the city will be belly up soon
Can Scene magazine do an article on this imbecile of a mayor in Willoughby? More people need to leave comments on this article. I can’t disagree with anything that was said in the comments about this disaster of a mayor we have here. We are also leaving Willoughby. We have given it so much love and received much in return but the section 8 school invasion, Taj Mahal schools that are unsustainable and run by an alcoholic superintendent with a DUI (there’s arrest video online) that also has grandiose fantasies, constant catering to everyone but the residents (our street has been a total wreck for 3 years) and this new lefty mayor Bob Fiala blowing our money on his nonsense dreams has undermined the wonderful community that took so long to build. Looks like we will be the next San Francisco if we don;t face reality; all we need is a tent city in Pointe Park and a needle exchange. Mayor Anderson did an awesome job and everyone really misses him. We are leaving for Burton and it’s the hardest decision we’ve ever made but there’s not much hope to see Willoughby rebound in the few years we have left
Bob Fiala is a class ‘A’ douche bag. I can’t wait to vote him out and get willoughby back to normal